Michigan’s slate of Republican “alternate electors” for Donald Trump in 2020, who were accused of fraud and attempting to assist the Trump campaign in overturning the year’s election results, announced their intent to sue Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and the Department of Attorney General for the felony charges that were sought against them.

The group alleges, according to a press release from the Michigan Conservative Coalition announcing the lawsuits, that “Nessel’s felony complaints filed against each Elector were malicious, and were filed with malicious intent.”

The announcement came days after Nessel’s office announced that her office will not appeal the September 2025 decision by Lansing 54-A District Court Judge Kristen Simmons to dismiss charges against the electors.

“Dana Nessel, who is perhaps the worst lawyer in the USA, was smart when she decided to not lose — twice — the same case,” former Michigan Republican Party co-chair Meshawn Maddock, one of the electors in question, said in the press release. “Dana and her far left persecutors need to learn, perhaps the hard way, that her out of control legal behavior is unacceptable. I am also hopeful that our attorneys will be successful in having her, personally, pay the millions of dollars in damages that her horrible and malicious actions caused.”

In Nessel’s announcement that she would not appeal the district court decision, she said that the decision not to appeal “does not reflect any change in my belief in each defendant’s culpability for their alleged crimes, nor do I feel it any less urgent that those who work to undermine our elections should face accountability.”

Erick Kaardal, a lawyer at Minneapolis-based law firm Mohrman, Kaardal & Erickson, said in the press release that the lawsuits will be “vigorously pursued,” adding that “Government officials who weaponize their offices against citizens for political purposes must be held accountable under the law.”

When asked for comment on the lawsuit, Kimberly Bush, spokesperson for the Department of Attorney General, told Michigan Advance that in her decision not to appeal the case, Nessel included an “exhaustive” 110 page report that included both the allegations and supporting evidence against each of defendants, as well as the relevant case law.

“These cases will not be successful, but it’s possible the proceedings will shed further light on the criminal conduct of the Plaintiffs,” Bush said.

Anthony Hudson, a Genesee County truck driver running for the Republican nomination for governor, has made a habit of threatening elected officials with hanging for “treason,” making such threats at least twice since the start of 2026.

On Jan. 4, in a video posted to Hudson’s social media, he says, “It’s time to get the rope” — while holding a large loop of rope around his arm — as a call to action to “Michiganians and patriots” against politicians who he alleges received kickbacks from former Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, including Michigan’s U.S. Sens. Elissa Slotkin and Gary Peters, both Democrats.

“My hope is that every one of them will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and may their names forever live in shame for their treason,” he says in the video.

Less than a month later, on Feb. 1, in a Mason City Council meeting, speaking in opposition to data center development, Hudson again threatened elected officials — this time local government officials — with hanging.

“You guys never listen, and that’s the problem. These people voted you into office so that you could be their voice in government,” he said. “When you go against that voice, you commit what we call treason. The punishment for treason is public hanging. So, I suggest you start listening.”

Hudson’s statements were strongly condemned by the state Democratic party, who also urged the Michigan Republican Party and the other Republican candidates for governor to similarly condemn the threats.

“Political violence is completely unacceptable, and this kind of dangerous, hateful extremism has no place in our state and country. Anthony Hudson must immediately retract these comments and issue an apology,” Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson Derrick Honeyman wrote in a statement.

The Michigan Republican Party did not respond to a request for a response.

But Hudson doubled down when asked to comment on his statements.

“Know the law and the consequences! I didn’t write the law, as governor I will enforce the law. Educating someone about the law and what the consequences are is not threatening anyone,” he wrote in an email to the Michigan Advance. “Don’t come at me for holding them accountable and saying the worst part out loud.”

Hudson’s comments are similar to those of President Donald Trump, who has accused six elected Democrats, including Slotkin, of committing treason after they recorded a video reminding military members that they did not have to follow illegal orders.

In reaction to the video, Trump called it “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR FROM TRAITORS” later saying it was “SEDITIOUS BEHAVIOR, punishable by DEATH!”